The present invention relates to an active curing additive for water or solvent borne surface sealants or coatings. More particularly, the present invention relates to an active curing additive for water or solvent surface sealants and coatings such as latex products, paints, putties, caulks, sports track and court construction, asphalt or coal tar seal coating, asphalt paving, micro-seal, roof tars, asphalt emulsions, crack sealants, and the like. In some situations, the drying or cure time for a particular coating is critical. For example, asphalt parking lots must be coated to retard oxidation and protect the surface from harmful automotive fluids. However, closing a lot creates considerable problems for the business customers and owners. Customers who must park at a distance from the business are inconvenienced and this adversely affects sales.
Currently, the minimum industry cure time for a parking lot seal coating is 24 to 48 hours. Further, a location may be subsequently closed to apply painted stripes to the coated surface. This causes additional customer inconvenience.
The present inventive active curing additive, when added to such a surface sealant or paint, allows traffic to be reintroduced to a parking lot within 2 to 4 hours of the final application coat. The faster cure time of the present invention allows for striping to be applied within an hour or two of the final coat thereby eliminating not only a second customer inconvenience, but eliminating a second trip by the application contractor to the job site. As may be easily seen, the reduced cure and drying times of the present invention allows the contractor to complete more jobs per unit of time, generate greater revenues with fewer labor costs, and provide greater customer satisfaction.
The present invention provides a longer lasting coating film which does not bleed into or smudge onto the painted stripes. Additionally, the present invention may be used with traffic paint for stripes. The same advantages noted in the use of the present invention as a parking lot sealant result when used as a stripe or traffic paint, i.e., quicker cure and drying times in humid conditions resulting in greater profits and added convenience to the public.
Furthermore, the inventive active curing additive reduces curing time in other water or solvent sealants and coatings such as latex products, paints, putties, caulks, sports track and court construction, asphalt or coal tar seal coating, asphalt paving, micro-seal, roof tars, asphalt emulsions, crack sealants, and the like which all require an extended cure time. This cure time can be shortened by the active curing process triggered by the inventive active curing additive resulting in reduced down time for the customer and more productivity for the contractor.